Museum and RMM Wing

The Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust opened in 1997 to educate people of all ages and backgrounds about the broad tapestry of Jewish life over the past century--before, during, and after the Holocaust. In mid-September 2003, the Museum opened its 82,000-square-foot Robert M. Morgenthau Wing, which contains Edmond J. Safra Hall, a state-of-the-art theater; Garden of Stones, a memorial garden designed by Andy Goldsworthy; The Heritage Cafe, a kosher cafe; a catering hall; classrooms; and expanded gallery space for special exhibitions.

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Andy Goldsworthy

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Garden of Stones

Artist Andy Goldsworthy has designed Garden of Stones, a permanent outdoor Memorial Garden employing stones, trees, and soil as its core elements. A series of 18 carefully selected boulders are installed throughout the garden. Each one has been hollowed out and holds a single sapling Dwarf Oak that will show through a small hole at the top. As the trees mature in the coming years, each will grow to become a part of the stone, its trunk fusing to the base. It will dramatically suggest how nature can survive under seemingly impossible circumstances. As a living memorial, the garden is a tribute to the hardship, struggle, tenacity, and survival experienced by those who endured the Holocaust.

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Since the 1920s, the game of mah jongg has ignited the popular imagination with its beautiful tiles, mythical origins, and communal spirit. Come learn the history and meanings of the beloved game that became a Jewish-American tradition.

This exhibition is made possible through the generosity of the National Mah Jongg League. Additional support provided by Sylvia Hassenfeld. Exhibit design by Abbott Miller, Pentagram. Editions 2wice publication courtesy the 2wice Arts Foundation.

Read more about the exhibition in the New York Times.

Traces of Memory features images by photographer Chris Schwarz (1948-2007), the founding director of the Galicia Jewish Museum, Krakow, with research and texts by Jonathan Webber. Together they travelled through Poland’s countryside to document the visible traces of the Jewish past. The exhibition serves as a lament to the destroyed Jewish civilization that once flourished in Poland, a record of the locations of the annihilation of the Jews, and an exploration of the commemorative efforts now taking place there.

From the permanent exhibition of the Galicia Jewish Museum, Kraków (www.galiciajewishmuseum.org)

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The Morgenthaus have embraced the promise of America since their arrival in 1886. Wanting to contribute to their country and their communities, they dedicated themselves to public service. The exhibition tells the story of three generations of this family, and explores the fascinating ways in which their services to others changed the course of world events, American politics, and Jewish history.

This exhibition is made possible through generous funding from the Isenberg Family Charitable Trust, Marina and Stephen E. Kaufman, Lois and Martin Whitman, Jack Rudin, and New York State Senator Eric T. Schneiderman.

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Media sponsorship is generously provided by Manhattan Media.

The Keeping History Center is an interactive, digital visitor experience. Phase 1 of the center features Voices of Liberty, a soundscape composed of diverse voices responding to arriving in America for the first time, including Holocaust survivors, Soviet refuseniks, and others. As the exhibit grows, visitors will be able to add their own responses to seeing the harbor or their own stories of arriving in the U.S. The Center also contains a virtual exploration of Andy Goldsworthy’s Garden of Stones. Visitors can visit the Garden for themselves and then view tree growth through time and across seasons via a time-lapse camera. Footage of Goldsworthy creating each element of the memorial garden is part of this new installation.

Phase 2, planned for 2011, will allow visitors to use state-of-the-art technology to add their own voices, “curate” their own experiences, and understand that they themselves are part of the history they keep. The Center is being designed by the award-winning firms C&G Design and Potion.

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